Israeli police gather after a blast ripped through a bus near the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on Wednesday. / Daniel Bar-On, Getty Images

by Vanessa O'Brien and Nati Gershovich, Special for USA TODAY

by Vanessa O'Brien and Nati Gershovich, Special for USA TODAY

TEL AVIV - A bus bombing in this seaside city Wednesday appears to be strengthening the Israeli public's support for a ground offensive in Gaza.

A cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect later Wednesday, but many Israelis say they don't believe it will provide a long-term solution to the rain of rockets into their territory or to renewed acts of terrorism.

"We know that the situation is bad," said Tel Aviv resident Daniel Ramzi, 25, referring to the 8-day-old escalation of hostilities with Gaza. "There's no end. After what happened today, I think that most Israelis think now that we should go in," he said, referring to a possible ground offensive in Gaza.

Twenty-four people were injured, three seriously, when a bomb left in a bag on a bus exploded shortly after midday on the busy Shaul HaMelech Boulevard in Tel Aviv.

Last week, Hamas threatened to renew deadly bombings against civilians in Israel in a Hebrew-language video released on its YouTube account.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the search for the person who left the bomb was continuing and investigators were examining the shrapnel and other remnants of the explosive device. He said there had been no official claim of responsibility for the bombing, and police were uncertain whether it was carried out by an individual or an organized terrorist group.

Ramzi, an army reservist who could be called into service at any time, manages Meatos Bar and Grill, which is situated on a corner where the explosion occurred. He said that when he heard the explosion, it took him a moment to realize he had taken the same bus route on his way to work in the morning.

"The moment we understood it was an explosion, everything became like a dream," he said. "People started sweating, screaming, and the waitresses started crying. There were hundreds of police, and people from outside were running for inside and asking for help."

Tel Aviv taxi driver Ofer Shomer was driving on Shaul HaMelech when the explosion occurred. He said his response was a curse word.

"The people worry, but life has to move on," he said. "The problem with Gaza and Israel will never be stopped like this. Every four months or six months, there will be more rockets. We should go into Gaza. We don't need a green light from anyone."

Chava Spetter from Shiloh in the West Bank was in Tel Aviv for the day and heard about the bombing on the radio. "First of all, it's absolutely shocking. It's been quiet for years. But you get used to it," she said. "I think we could, even without what happened today, go in on the ground."

But not all hold that view.

Clothing store owner Shlomo Shaulian, 55, said he believes a ground offensive would be pointless and result in a further loss of support for Israel.

"If Egypt will not give a hand to Israel and stop the flow of weapons into Gaza, then neither a cease-fire nor a ground offensive would solve the security problem," he said.

Graphic designer Daniel Weiner, 36, said, "I think Israel would respond aggressively to the attack as it does most of the time - disproportionately - and therefore it will not be a cease-fire.

"I really hope they do not enter Gaza," the former New York resident said. " I really think both sides would suffer, and both have a right to defend themselves."

The bus bombing is the first in Tel Aviv in six years. The last terrorist attack on a bus in Israel was in Jerusalem in March 2011, in which a British woman was killed.

Security checks at bus stations had been loosened six weeks ago. Late Wednesday, full security was again in place.